Do you wonder if there are better ways of going about your teaching and/or assessment practices? Perhaps you would like to learn more about current thinking and best practice in teaching, learning, technology and assessment in higher education? Maybe you are interested in gaining a Level 9 qualification in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education? If so, you might consider participating in the MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education that is offered by the Teaching and Learning Unit. In Semester 1 2023/24, the TLU will be offering the following modules which may be of interest to you: EDUC9043: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education EDUC9046: Curriculum Design & Evaluation EDUC9050: Mentoring in HE EDUC9016: Education Research Proposal This information session provided an overview and introduction to the programme, more detailed information about the programme itself including options to step off with a Level 9 Certificate or Level 9 Postgraduate Diploma and will explain how to apply.

"The TLU have developed a CPD programme entitled EAT-PD: Enabling Academic Transitions through Professional Development Programme, aimed at new and early career academic staff, i.e., staff that have been teaching full-time for three years or less (or some equivalent). This programme enables staff relatively new to teaching to develop their competencies in the classroom. The focus of this programme is to expose staff to a range of research-based teaching strategies that can be used to enhance lectures and support learning. The purpose of this session was to provide more information about the programme, including more details about the programme itself as well as information on how to apply."

The overall vision for the ECAAP (Embedding Content Across Academic Programmes) toolkit is that it can be used at every level within a Higher Education facility to track and embed content in modules, stages and programmes and ultimately link the delivery of this content to graduate attributes. The objective of the first stage of this project is to explore the feasibility of creating such a toolkit, through a mixture of desk research and a worked example.

The aim of this seminar was to introduce ECAAPT, a simple means by which to embed and track content, such as academic literacies, across modules and programmes. This tracking and mapping tool can contribute to a more coordinated and cohesive approach to the teaching and learning of various skills in many disciplines. In addition, this tool has the potential to be used as a structure for building and developing new programmes in a coherent and logical manner. It should be possible to show where the content necessary to develop the desired graduate attributes are, or could be, embedded across all stages of a programme. This can be useful for simplifying programmatic review, as well as ongoing programme checks and coherency. It may also be useful to map existing content relating to any module or programme across departments or in relation to specific graduate themes/attributes. Use of this tool may also indicate where there are openings to develop further learning opportunities for students, and where there may be overlap in delivery. The session began with an introduction to the tool itself and how it works before we moved on to present a worked example. This was followed by an opportunity for questions and answers.

"This seminar showcased a range of innovative curricular wellbeing initiatives in UCC and MTU and also provided a forum for discussing such initiatives in line with the National Forum’s USI ""Embedding Wellbeing in the Curriculum"" report. In addition, Gareth Hughes from the University of Derby who has authored the book “Be well learn well” shared his insights on the topic as keynote speaker. The seminar was timely given the growing concern for the increased levels of student mental ill health and low wellbeing. As educators, we have the means to ensure that curricula are well designed, and enabled to support the needs of students. Attendees learned from experienced practitioners who have successfully altered their respective curricula and what effect it has had on students. The overall goal of this seminar was to ensure that the sharing of resources and information between HEIs will lead to increased knowledge of curricular approaches to student wellbeing and in turn lead to improved mental health promotion and prevention across higher education in Ireland."

As part of MTU’s commitment to excel in teaching, research and development work, for the benefit of staff, students, industry and the wider community, MTU is offering staff the opportunity for professional recognition of their teaching practice and leadership.

As part of MTU’s commitment to excel in teaching, research and development work, for the benefit of staff, students, industry and the wider community, MTU is offering staff the opportunity for professional recognition of their teaching practice and leadership.

As part of MTU’s commitment to excel in teaching, research and development work, for the benefit of staff, students, industry and the wider community, MTU is offering staff the opportunity for professional recognition of their teaching practice and leadership.

"The Teaching Learning Assessment and Student Engagement (TLASE) Research Laboratory represents the research wing of the Teaching and Learning Unit, MTU Cork Campuses and was funded by the TUTF. The focus of this laboratory is on larger-scale high quality educational research that will enhance Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Student Engagement functions within MTU and beyond. The TUTF funding will support two research projects that aim to enhance feedback and assessment in work-placement activity across the university and feedback and assessment within large first-year classes. This session launched the TLASE Research Lab."

In September 2021, the TLU secured funding under the recent TUTF (Technological University Transformation Fund) call to establish a Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Student Engagement (TLASE) Research Laboratory. The Laboratory’s objective is to undertake large-scale, rigorous, research in order to generate evidence based TLASE strategies and enhance learning across MTU and beyond. Large-scale, rigorous research in TLASE is important to identify what works, how it works, when it works and where it works. The immediate focus of the TLASE Research Laboratory will be on Assessment and Feedback in areas such industry work placement settings and large, first year classes. We intend to use both the international literature and smaller scale MTU research projects (e.g., projects completed as part of the MA in Teaching and Learning, Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) funded projects, projects coming from Learning Communities, etc) to identify strategies of interest and focus on exploring the extent to which they work when implemented on a larger scale.

"The Academic Success Coaching team at MTU hosted a workshop on the value and applications of coaching approaches in Higher Education. Equally of interest to Academic and to Professional, Management and Support staff at MTU, the workshop provided an overview of the uniqueness of coaching approaches and how they can enrich teaching, supervision, and mentoring scenarios. We were joined by Dr Jill Andreanoff, a leading coaching scholar and practitioner, who shared her wealth of experience on the value of using a coaching approach in Higher Education settings. Dr Andreanoff facilitated a short interactive session exploring both mentoring and coaching, giving practical examples of how these approaches can be adopted."

"The Academic Success Coaching team at MTU hosted a workshop on the value and applications of coaching approaches in Higher Education. Equally of interest to Academic and to Professional, Management and Support staff at MTU, the workshop provided an overview of the uniqueness of coaching approaches and how they can enrich teaching, supervision, and mentoring scenarios. We were joined by Dr Jill Andreanoff, a leading coaching scholar and practitioner, who shared her wealth of experience on the value of using a coaching approach in Higher Education settings. Dr Andreanoff facilitated a short interactive session exploring both mentoring and coaching, giving practical examples of how these approaches can be adopted."

"Peer coaching is a staff development model which can be used to develop and try new strategies and determine what does and does not work by critically evaluating beliefs about teaching and learning. Peer coaching is built upon trusting relationships that develop between lecturers. The seminar outlined the nature of a coaching conversation and gave participants an opportunity to develop their listening, questioning and feedback skills. The seminar was designed to develop professional communication and dialogue one of the four domains underpinned by the National Professional Development framework’s values. Collegial coaching, technical coaching, challenge coaching and team coaching were examined and their use in third level explored. The four types of peer coaching are all very different, but they are built upon effective communication that is honest and open and based on an unbiased attitude and a willingness to help others grow professionally. This involves trust building. Effective peer coaches must be dedicated to working in a trusting relationship with a partner to continually improve his or her teaching skills. They must also be open to new ideas and willingly share classroom experiences with their partners. Effective communication means more than just teachers talking with each other. It involves: conversation skills listening skills nonverbal language giving constructive feedback developing trusting relationships The seminar/workshop employed a blended learning approach involving experiential learning techniques complimented by facilitated debriefs, group discussions and short presentations. Participants who attended this workshop: Deepened their understanding of the nature and benefits of peer coaching in enhancing CPD commitment and impact. Gained a heightened awareness of their capacity to listen with unconditional positive regard Increased their knowledge and expertise in the use of questioning to raise awareness Developed their skills in offering impactful feedback Constructed an action plan to utilise the workshop content to improve their own communication skills so they can better support their peers and engage in purposeful conversations regarding professional development, development of learning communities and communities of practice."

"This presentation focused on the Student/Lecturer Legal dynamic. It began by outlining the legal framework in this area before exploring a number of specific issues including: Disruptive students and how lecturers should deal with this Social Media issues, including lecturers’ engagement with students on social media sites Bullying and Harassment of lecturers by students, and of students by lecturers. What constitutes bullying/harassment? What procedures should be followed? The relevant case law Sexual Harassment - what constitutes sexual harassment? The relevant case law Intellectual Property, recording lectures, lecturer’s notes Academic freedom in the classroom - freedom of speech for lecturers and students Data protection and student privacy. Examples of student personal data, how should this data be used and stored, how long should it be retained? Accommodating students with special needs The presentation also discussed disciplinary procedures and redress options for lecturers and students in the context of the issues outlined above."